Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

216 reviews

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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medini_l's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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jordan_noel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. Yet I'm not sure I have the capacity to state my love of it without insulting the book.

Esther is self-aware and knows when her mental state is declining. She notices her moods and interests slipping and a strange, hazy, dark cloud descending over her life. She tells us wittily of the sane people who seem to mock her and rub their vital mentalities in her face as she knows just how messed up she has become.

 In this autobiographical sense, you get a lot into Sylvia Plath's own life and the struggles she faced, even as creating such magnificent, long-lasting literary works. She describes the feelings of depression, suicidality, never feeling enough, never doing enough, and never being enough in the most beautiful, horrifically accurate detail. She's fought her whole life to be the best, winning awards and a full scholarship to an honorable university. And yet, she still can't feel like anything.

When her work doesn't seem to be enough, she begins to descend, not sure where her worth lies, what she could be, or even who she is now. Wanting to do everything and no longer sure of her capabilities for anything, this book is a scary, detailed fight for the ability to do what you used to, even though it's what made you miserable in the first place.

This is a beautiful book, though, this will be a tough journey for people who struggle with issues similar to Esther's. 

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lumiix's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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mariesophiee's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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valentina_d's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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tonisbookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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aisabel's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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bzzzzzz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Sylvia Plath's writing is magnetic. Yet, given her state of mind, it comes as no surprise that this book is devoid of love, hope, or joy. I think art needs touches of these things to truly be a masterpiece. Also, it has a tragically distorted view of sex.

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themadbloodstone's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“I also remembered Buddy Willard saying in a sinister, knowing say that after I had children I would feel differently, I wouldn’t want to write poems any more. So I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed, and afterward you went about numb as a slave in some private, totalitarian state.”
Plath, pg. 85

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